Amy

The incredible story of six-time Grammy winner Amy Winehouse - in her own words. Featuring extensive unseen archival footage and previously unheard tracks, this strikingly modern, moving, and vital film shines a light on our culture and the world we live in today.

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Most viewers are going to come to the film with some previous knowledge of Winehouse's talents, shortcomings and fatal flaw(s). This film adds detail and a timeline with names and faces as it goes into her personal story. Using a variety of sources the film aptly fleshes out these details as it explains her rise and fall. It's intersting to see how real life influenced her lyrics. A film that had no surprise ending, but a cautionary tale.

Showing both her good and bad sides as well as the good and bad influences of those around her the film seemed well balanced enough. However, the film made no mention of the reason of why she participated in the Grammy's via a live video feed from the UK instead of in person in the USA; the US government denied her entry due to her well known or suspected criminal drug activities. A detail that would have been easy enough to share and would have explained why the event took place in England instead of the USA. May be, it's another story unti itself, was simply overlooked or may be it's a sign that the film leaves out inconvenient details.

My major compliant is the high volume of the music portions compared to the low volume explanative or interview portions. Without constantly adjusting the volumne viewers are either bombarded with sound or left with whispers. A less varied range of volume would have been greatly appreciated.

The movie Amy, is a documentary about the life of famed jazz and pop singer, Amy Winehouse. It highlights the various ups and downs the singer experienced before her tragic death in 2011. Directed by Asif Kapadia, and produced by James Gay- Rees, it shows never before seen home videos shot by close family friends of the late blues singer, as well as interviews with close friends and relatives. To be completely honest, before watching this documentary, I had a vague idea of who Amy Winehouse was. I feel like this documentary gave a lot of insight to the real demons she was fighting throughout her successful career. This movie also showed the true horrors of fame, as well as drugs and alcohol. After watching this movie, I can truly and honestly say, no voice currently could compare to that of Amy Winehouse’s. I thoroughly enjoyed this documentary, and I would definitely recommend this to a friend. I would give this movie a 4/5 rating.
@TheCuriousBookworm of the Teen Review Board at the Hamilton Public Library

I can't remember if I've already commented on this movie -- but it's a fantastic documentary, which clearly shows Amy Winehouse's immense talent. I'm not a fan of soul/jazz/R&B in general, but she was amazing. A tragic loss, well-illuminated in this movie. The movie makes her boyfriend/husband seem like an incredible scumbag, but I can't say if it's 100% accurate, given his substance abuse issues.

Well. Was glad I decided to tackle this documentary. I was afraid it was going to be very superficial. Instead, I came away with an appreciation of this 'pop phenomenon' as an artist and human being. It's left me noticing how many contemporary artists have been influenced by her; or perhaps are just copying her... Not to be too snarky...

I was heartbroken when Amy Winehouse died. She was so much more talented than most popular musicians these days, that it felt like a real injustice. (Not that there is justice in the universe, but grief is not logical.) I remember the morning the news broke I spoke to someone (a singer) who said, somewhat dispassionately, that Winehouse was an accident waiting to happen. I felt offended by what she said at the time. But after seeing this extremely well edited documentary, I have to agree with her. Amy suffered from depression and taking drugs and drinking was her way of self-medicating. The film is well-balanced and takes you from the earliest days to the end. Best part is her singing in a recording booth doing Back to Black. It starts out just a capella then adds the backing track, first in part, then the whole thing. Makes the hair stand up....wherever you have hair. If you're a fan, this is unmissable. Even if you aren't a fan, this is highly recommended.

This movie didn't cover Amy's story quite as well as I had hoped it would. However, it was lovely to see her perform and my heart just broke all over again to watch her struggle and know how it ended. For fans: if you have watched this and need more, look into the two biographies written by her parents, they give a way better look into who Amy really was outside of the fame and her struggle with addictions.

a stellar documentary---way above the usual in its production value & lively storytelling. and it shows all too well what can happen when we are born into the wrong family. it also shows what a great talent she had & was developing. it left me with a sad question: if just someone had been there for her, an advocate, what might have been? I think that she would have given all of us incredible, long-living music.

I loved Amy through out her career and I held off on watching this movie because I was afraid it was going to focus more on her downfall, then her as a whole. Boy, was I pleasantly surprised and proved wrong when I finally gave into watching it. It shows her from the very beginning, before she was famous, to her very last days and everything in between, which I really appreciate. I feel as though too many people got to know her in the wrong light in the end, so I was so happy to see this portray her from every angle, even the jarring truth, which I thought was going to be candy coated but ended up not and was done so well. It really shows her true personality, her desire to succeed in making great music rather than becoming famous, then being sucked dry by not only her disease, but by those who percieved her as a cash cow rather than someone who was begging for help in an un conventional way because she never truly had the chance to grow up and out. Every minute is worth watching, but be prepared to cringe in more way than one.